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Thanks Terry. Anyone else?

Hello gents Thinking about adding this one to the collection. Looks like a good private-issue TWM to me but as I've never handled one I'd like your thoughts about it just to make sure. Thank you very much for the help! cheers from Flanders l4h PS: enamel looks fades but that's just the lightreflection

A bit of legislation: By decree of 25 february 1919 the mutilated and invalided were issued a military uniform (kaki), but in a circulary of dec 15th, 1920 they were ordered to hand in that uniform again in lieu of which they received the above pictured armband. The seal visible should be that of the Ministry of National Defense (there are similar armbands issued and with the seals of private organisations) As stated above the invalidity of the soldier had to be above 30%. If below 30 % but above 10% he received another badge (broken sword surrounded by laurel and oakleaves on a blue 6-pointed field) Warinvalids when wearing their armband should be saluted by military personnel on duty. (all taken from Distinctions Honorifiques de la Belgique, André Charles Borné)

As the colonial medal seems to be for sale now I thought it'd be best to make this clear: Indeed so. The marking here on the jeton however is Cornucopia 1 ARGENT which indicates a strike somewhere between 1907-1913. Right? Correct me if I'm wrong

Hello Ringo You're welcome. On the "Guldenboeksite" you'll find my name as one of the original contributors. Marc and I actually started up the project (mind you it would never have been finished if the other mentioned people wouldn't have come along) and while Marc had a more historical/genealogical aproach, I myself, being a militaria-collector next to a history buff, insisted in having ALL information indexed, including all the obtained medals and orders as well. I had precisely the type of question you posed in mind: to attempt to identify Belgian soldiers based on their awards. The database (including the medals) was not completely put on the internet due to practical reasons and preferences but I do have it at home. Meaning I can also search for people based on the awards. In this case I looked for all the Panama-medal recipients, and as it appears only Bievez received an OBE as well. His other medals as mentioned in my earlier post seemed to fit the bill as well, and as it turns out now we have found the right man indeed. Mind you: the info in these books is not complete (so neither is the database): by far not all veterans are mentioned in these books and the info is not always correct (the books were privately produced with no cooperation from the government so not to be taken for official sources). You have to get lucky to find what you're looking for. In this case we were. cheers l4h

Hi Hugh Thanks for sharing your Kris'. Very nice. Some small notes, not an expert on the matter mind you. The metal is indeed being folded and worked by the smith. This is what causes the distinct pattern/drawing on the blade. This pattern is called Pamor. The drawing is being made visible with arsenic (!) (which is what should be used once a year to keep the drawing nicely visible as well, but then again....) The different types of drawing/Pamor also influence the mystical power of the Kris. One type adding to the charisma of the owner, the other to his health, a third to this family life etc... I have personally witnessed a "standing" Kris myself about 15 years ago in a private home in the Yogyakart Kraton area. I can confirm: no strings or the likes. Don't know about the mysticism of it, but it sure shows remarkable craftmanship to shape the Kris in such a way that it has this kind of balance. I have a picture of the Kris standing up in an old box. Will have to dig it up and post here I think. There are indeed blades of Kris made from meteorite stone. However, if you put all the blades together from which it has been told that they were made from this stone it would have had to been the size of the moon..... Think you need a mettalurgic expert to confirm. Sidenote: traditionally a Kris should not be sold/bought. The terminology used in Javanese refers to a courtship and a dowry being paid (or something traded in stead) Often it is just given away. If you take the mysticism and the cleansing rituals seriously owning a Kris is a high responsibility (and a burden) which is why (if the original possessor has passed away) relatives may choose not to keep it in possession. My late father-in-law gave his two Kris away as he could not properly take care of them.... By the way Hugh: story also goes that you should not unnecessarily take the Kris out of the scabbard too often as it may want to see blood if you do so. Think to take it out for the cleaning ritual is OK though. @Windu: go ahead and continue posting interesting info on the subject please! We're on a roll here :)

Hi Windu Nice Kris. Thanks for showing it to us. May be mistaken but doesn't "dapur" say something about the shape of the weapon, like dapur bener (straight blade) and dapur luk (snake-like blade) (=two main types) There are more then 100 different sub-types of the dapur on the island of Java alone, never mind the other islands! Sonokeling wood is known as (East) Indian rosewoord (albergia latifolia) This truly is a largely unknown, underestimated and undervaluated collecting field!

Hello Ringo Very likely this is the uniform of Edmond Bievez: Received both OBE and Medal of Solidarity 2nd Class His other awards include a WWI Croix de Guerre with 2 palms (exact match with ribbon bar!), Ysermedal, Firecross medal, Commemorative and Victory Medal all of which are reflected in ribbon bar. I have him registered after WWI as Colonel (Res) with both the Knight's Grade of the order of Leopold I and the Order of the Crown both with palm. Both orders are reflected in the ribbon bar with the palms but in a higher grade, however if he stayed on in the military he might indeed have risen to General's rank and would have obtained a higher grade in the orders (together with the Military Cross 1st class which is on his ribbon bar) You'll find a pic of him on www.tenboome.webruimtehosting.net/guldenboek/Guldenboekprojecttotaal/ Now you should probably try to find out more about his post-WWI career to verify I think. cheers Roel

Not sure either Jim. Never seen this one. I suppose the origin indicates a Belgian medal? Don't forget red-white are Austrian colors as well (and Polish and Indonesian and....)

Ah, you were the one overbidding me on that pic on ebay Nice catch! One "colonial" veteran and one WWI merchant marine vet. Father and son? Who knows?

Hi Jef I didn't know they still awarded the medals, thought they had switched to modern "pin-style" trinkets?

Hello gentlemen, I seem recently to have ventured from single medals into "Spangeland". I know a thing or two about medals, but not so much about Spange. I was hoping some fellow-collectors would be willing to enlighten me a bit and teach me a couple of things about the differences in setup and the approximate corresponding timeperiod? Thanks for your help! Kind regards from Belgium l4h 1)Metal plate, DRGM marked, thin round needle with round thread hook, southern style ribbons 2)Metal plate, unmarked, round needle with round hookr, southern style ribbons 3)Black felt covered, round needle with vertically FLATTENED wire hook, southern style ribbons 4)Black felt covered, round needle with horizontally FLATTENED grey hook, court style ribbons 5)Orange felt backed, round needle with vertically flat wire hook, (much as nr 3) southern style ribbon 6) Black cloth covered, round needle, flat vertical hook (as nr 3 and 5), court style ribbons 7)Brown felt covered, with fastening pin, southern style ribbons Ps: got a couple more but I think this will do the trick as to illustration?

Nice set, typical for a May 40 veteran that joined the resistance during the war.

Thank you I was under the impression that the order of the white lion in that period was only awarded to foreigners? :unsure:

Hello gentlemen I spotted a document for the medal in the order of the white lion (dated 1927). What I can make of the recipients name is (I think): strelei franc legii KASTANSZOVI. I guess that has something to do with the French Legion, (franc legii) but what does it actually mean? Thanks for the help Best regars l4h

Old thread revived. In the nice exemple in the Brussels Museum I'm also missing the TARGUL-OCNA bar? Trying to determine how many different (official) bars there were (not counting the spelling variations) 15?

Certificate to the Bintang Gerilja (Guerillea medal) I was wondering if some of our Indonesian friends could explain his "Pangkat" (rank, second line) which says "Pltd. nrp.107619" and his "Kesatuan/Djawatan" (unit, fouth line) which says Djas. Res. 16 His function (Djabatan, line three) is filled as Angg. (for angota) which means "member"

No identification yet I'm afraid Ringo. But perhaps info on the career of Viscount Poullet can give a clue? http://www.ata-sec.org/people-staff/12-adm-viscount-edmond-poullet

Continuing up a question that was touched upon a while ago: is there a way to narrow down the manufacturing date on the knight badges of the Italian crown order?

Hello gents Was a bit confused yesterday where I'd best start this topic. Seems like not many members noticed the post though so I hope it's okay if I draw the attention to it here where perhaps the specialists in the matter will spot it? please see: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=45528 Thanks! cheers

I would even go so far as to say that a lot of them did. Not uncommon to see a ribbon bar with the two ribbons next to eachother. And I second the thought that the ribbon bar looks quite odd. National and foreign ribbons, official and non-official thrown together in random order it seems.

Don't want to hijack the thread here, but I was wondering if anyone already has the Binet publication shown a few messages back? How does it compare to the (impossibly expensive) Hass book where contents are concerned? (the Binet sells for about 40 €) cheers l4h Edited: Never mind, found the other thread a little before this one with the link to the publisher's website. Even has a few samplepages there. Looks good!

Nice one Dirk. Now you mention it, the colours of 7 indeed point to Hungary. I didn't notice it before. May I ask how you could identify nr 8? Brg,

No, Hendrik's site is alive and well (I think) I did mean the other site, which was a nice addition to Hendrik's. It had (among other things) a nice section on Belgian labour medals and Belgian Congo. A pity it closed down. As for the copyright infringements. Once you put things on the internet de facto it almost seems everything's up for grabs. On auction sites I sometimes see parts of Hendrik's site blatantly copied in the description of the medals. More often then not by the same sellers all the time. They don't even always take the time to verify the info with the medal they're selling. On the other hand Hendrik's site (and others) has informed countless enthusiasts and collectors and helped them along on the learning curve. Me being one of them I might add. If all info would be stored away privately because of some abuses, it would become a lonely hobby indeed eh? food for thought. cheers l4h